Rust In Pieces... Pics of Disintegrating Classic & Vintage Cars

This is a discussion on Rust In Pieces... Pics of Disintegrating Classic & Vintage Cars within Vintage Cars & Classics in India, part of the BHP India category; I presume, most of us know this car & the location but I ask WHY, just WHY???
Few meters ahead ...

I presume, most of us know this car & the location but I ask WHY, just WHY???
Few meters ahead and on opposite side there is another beauty lying in covered shed:.............. Raab rakha.

The "WHY" maybe because of the engine, have you ever heard this car run? I have. There is another run down Shadow in much worse condition, that was rescued by our Kasli and he has a big job on his hands, whenever he puts his mind to it

The "WHY" maybe because of the engine, have you ever heard this car run? I have. There is another run down Shadow in much worse condition, that was rescued by our Kasli and he has a big job on his hands, whenever he puts his mind to it

Cheers harit

Engine problem ? These cars are known to have long lives. Is it because of low octane fuel ? Older cars, I mean 40s,50s ran fine on lo octane. Even later , imported cars were happy to run 87 octane except some high compression engines that required premium. Not all large cars with big V 8 needed high test but if they did and you used regular gas available then ( even lower then 87 aki in most cases) meant early demise of the engine. Some relief to engine knocking was possible by adjusting the timing resulting in loss of performance. Only recently with fuel injection and ECM , one can use low octane fuel but only in emergency and for short period. Continued use of low octane gas in a high compression engine will result in serious damage. I can attest to this having seen valve damage to a 1958 Edsel with V8 400 cubic inch motor having a compression ratio of 10.5 : 1 . The gasoline available in early 60s. Was not even 87 aki ( this is the standard regular unleaded now) .

If the Gold Roller was sold new in India,there is every chance it has a very low compression engine designed to run on petrol ,one grade above kerosene. .The engines were based on the Chrysler RB engine according to one of the original engineers who figured them out. It probably just got to the point where regular maintenance costs were too high. The brake system alone is enough to give a mechanic grey hairs and if it has the citroen derived rear suspension, that will test the skills of even the best mechanic.

Rollers most certainly werent sold through a dealership here but personally imported. So this one by all means would have been too.

Of Course, but until recently you ordered your New Rolls through the company or it's intermediaries and if the stated delivery was for india or some African Country the engine specs would be altered to suit the available fuel . Mercedes did this with the W100 600 and the W109 6.3 ,offering a 7.8-1 engine instead of the 9.5-1 engine sold in Germany and the UK. A search of the Rollers delivery information held in the Uk would show which engine it has. iF it was privately imported from,Say, the Uk ,it would have an engine unsuited to low octane fuels .

Of Course, but until recently you ordered your New Rolls through the company or it's intermediaries and if the stated delivery was for india or some African Country the engine specs would be altered to suit the available fuel .

Sorry if I wasnt clear, when I said personal import, I mentioned it in context of people from India who would've lived overseas (called NRIs or Non-Resident Indians) say in the UK, and bought a car for their personal use within the UK only, in which case they would've just taken something that had an engine etc. designed for the UK and not overseas. However, on their return to India, they would've preferred to bring their car alongwith them as it was, without bothering about the suitability to the available fuel etc. as they most likely wouldnt have been aware of these things. Only to eventually face problems in India at a later stage in most cases. Most of the 'personal imports' in India came in this way (or through foreign embassies/consulates) as at one point of time importing a car had a lot of red tape bottlenecks so few people preferred to do so.

Most of the 'personal imports' in India came in this way (or through foreign embassies/consulates) as at one point of time importing a car had a lot of red tape bottlenecks so few people preferred to do so.

I think it was easier earlier. There is more red tape, duty and useless regulations nowadays with regards to importing a vehicle into India.

I have been spotting this next to my society for some time.
I was under the impression that someone was making an effort, but now not so much.
Car rescue, someone?

Wow, be prepared for a lot of PMs

It is a '59 Chevy Impala, one of the most iconic years. The car does look very complete, and some unforseen circumstances would allow it to lie like this on the road. Good luck to whoever can get it, if they can at all.

PS - if it were my car I would love to restore it only mechanically and use it as is - at least for a while. That finish looks gorgeous!

It is a '59 Chevy Impala, one of the most iconic years. The car does look very complete, and some unforseen circumstances would allow it to lie like this on the road. Good luck to whoever can get it, if they can at all.

PS - if it were my car I would love to restore it only mechanically and use it as is - at least for a while. That finish looks gorgeous!

No issues there.
This is the exact location of the car, the circle in red, to about 100 metres.

Do let me know in case anybody comes around. I would love to see what happens when chasing classics.....

Seeing the front suspension sitting down, I wonder if it has a heavy diesel engine under the hood?

Cheers

KPS

Ill get you guys better pictures over the weekend ,maybe some background too.
Its just sitting there, abandoned looking. Like another impala that was abandoned in southex for almost 10 years last I saw.